Tuesday, August 11, 2009

At last night's city council meeting every single Republican, except one, turned their backs on the campaign promises they made to not raise taxes. They chose to bailout the ponzi scheme known as the CIB instead. After the vote was taken, Christine Scales, made a statement as to WHY she voted no to bailout the CIB. Here are the words of the lone Republican councilor who voted to stop feeding the monster known as the CIB.We want to know why the information from the Governor's office was not made known to the public to study advance too. This is OUR money, and these people are our servants. Never forget that.--Melyssa for HFFT.

STATEMENT FROM COUNCILOR CHRISTINE SCALES: I would like to explain my vote on Proposal 285. Despite speculation by some, the motivation behind my vote was not influenced by whether I might win or lose a future election. It is an honor for me to serve this community in the many ways a councilor is able to. BUT-if this, or ANY vote I cast costs me another term, I can live with that. I really am here to serve, not to advance a political career.

Before I vote on any issue, I do my homework. I speak to as many of the stakeholders involved in an issue and get as many perspectives on a matter as possible. I read articles and books and take time to process all I have learned. That is how I came to make my decision on how to vote on this proposal tonight.

It was difficult for me to accept the terms of the CIB funding package handed to the Council from the General Assembly. So, I set about trying to devise alternative solutions. Most of the community leaders with whom I discussed these other possibilities, did not offer much hope that any of them would go anywhere.

Not one to easily accept defeat, I sent a letter to Governor Daniels asking him to consider supporting the alternative solution I had to Proposal 285. I was hoping for a last minute reprieve.

I appreciate that Governor Daniels took the time to respond to my plea. He and Chief of Staff Earl Goode made room in their schedules late this afternoon to discuss Proposal 285, and why MY idea wouldn’t work. During my time with the governor and his chief of staff, I was shown financial data and given information I had previously not been privy to.

The governor made a compelling case for the need to vote for Proposal 285. Had the hour not been late, and had I enough time to review and process all the new information given to me, I might have come to vote yes on this proposal tonight. But I didn’t have the time, and could not on short order abandon the research and analysis that I used to determine my reasons for voting no on tonight’s proposal.